Marika Shioiri-Clark and Graham Veysey’s Wedding Weekend in Marfa

I had fun designing our wedding logo, and we had a local artist create a large version of it on an old Holiday Inn sign at the Capri to welcome guests to Marfa. It was so fun seeing it throughout the weekend.

Before the ideas started swirling, they were positive about one thing from the get-go: location. As Shioiri-Clark explains, “On the first night we met, we stayed up late talking, and one of the topics we discussed was Marfa, Texas, the tiny art town that both of us were intrigued by but had never visited. Two months into dating, we decided to make the two-week road trip from Cleveland to Marfa and back. This was a great test for our relationship, and we figured that if we could make it through a long trip that early on, then we could make it through most things together.” They quickly decided that Marfa was where they’d tie the knot—as Shioiri-Clark remarks, “It’s a great destination for a little adventure.” That place full of little adventure was the perfect setting for their big wedding weekend this past August.

“We really loved the look of the Capri, which is an event space attached to the Thunderbird Hotel, where Graham and I stayed on our first visit.” And the Capri was just one of several venues the couple chose for the activity-rich weekend of celebrating. “Graham and I have a very strong aesthetic,” Shioiri-Clark notes. “We made an outline of the schedule, and then started brainstorming things that we thought would make each of the events unique.” The first two kickoff items on the itinerary were welcome drinks at the artist Julie Speed’s studio, followed by a Texas barbecue dinner in the courtyard of the Thunderbird, where the couple hired a mariachi band to serenade everyone. “We wanted to make sure all of our guests felt welcome, and so we invited the whole group to the dinner, as opposed to doing a smaller and more typical rehearsal.” Dress code was of great importance to Shioiri-Clark and Veysey: “Friday night was a white party. We had a lot of outfit guidelines for the weekend, and people did a great job getting into the spirit. For the evening reception and dinner on Saturday, there were five mandated dress codes for our guests that included neon (to honor Dan Flavin), sequins (to honor the Marfa lights), minimalist (to honor Donald Judd), Lady Gaga (just because), and Giant (the James Dean movie shot in Marfa).”

On Saturday morning, after Friday night’s welcome drinks and dinner, Shioiri-Clark prepped her own special look for the early 9:00 a.m. ceremony. “I spent a very long time shopping for dresses,” she explains. “I wanted something with an interesting silhouette but without a lot of pouf and without a long train—that’s just not my style.” She settled on a beautiful Biyan dress and a beauty look that gave a wink to one of her all-time favorite artists. “Graham and I had gone to see the Frida and Diego exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts around the time that we were planning everything, and I grew up loving Frida Kahlo. I decided that I wanted a bit of an homage to her in my outfit, especially since Marfa is so close to Mexico. I thought the best way to achieve this was through a big, bold flower headdress and bright lip.” As for the pared-down groom, “Graham was all about wanting to embrace a summer wedding and decided early on that he was going to wear jean shorts to the ceremony,” says Shioiri-Clark. “On a trip to New Orleans, he stumbled upon a store selling handmade wooden bow ties and decided he’d wear one with his shorts and a pair of bright red TOMS shoes.”

During the ceremony there was no bridal party, but the couple did have their parents and siblings process down the aisle. As Shioiri-Clark says, “I’ve never really understood why, traditionally, the groom’s parents and the bride’s mom don’t get to participate in the procession.” Their beloved dog, Gracey, was the “flower girl” and wore a collar that matched her mom’s headdress. Shioiri-Clark walked down the aisle to a version of Etta James’s “At Last,” played on the guitar and sung by Veysey’s musician cousin. There were four readings: a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a poem by Margaret Atwood, an excerpt from Cheryl Strayed, and a passage from the Bible. The ceremony was officiated by two of their best friends, whom Shioiri-Clark says they look to as their “models for marriage.” And after the self-written vows were exchanged and the benediction was given, the celebration could really begin. (It was still fairly early in the morning, after all.)

“We all gathered for a brunch reception in the Capri event space at Thunderbird immediately after and had mimosas, Bloody Marys, candy bacon, and chilaquiles,” Shioiri-Clark recalls. “Also, our dear friends Jason Bristol and Alex Frondorf made 200 individual French almond travel cakes with a St. Germain lime glaze, which were our versions of a wedding cake.” Guests were seated at long tables under custom-made papel picado flags. The table assignments were written on old Dewey Decimal cards, and table numbers were halved cement bricks covered with silver vinyl as a nod to the artist Donald Judd. After brunch, it was time for field day games at El Cosmico campground: “The five events were Hula-Hoop, egg toss, longest golf drive, a 20-yard dash, and a sack race.” The couple had custom trophies made for the winners, and as Shioiri-Clark remembers, “The competition was fierce. At one point a stray golf ball nearly hit a border patrol vehicle driving by. Picnic fare kept everyone going, though, as well as bucketfuls of Modelos.” After the games, the couple organized a tour of The Chinati Foundation, a contemporary art museum founded by Donald Judd.

Once the physical activity and the tour were over, guests gathered together for a nighttime celebration, each wearing one or a combination of the five aforementioned theme wardrobes explicitly outlined by the couple. “The mandated outfits were an amazing community-builder because they acted as instant conversation-starters,” Shioiri-Clark says. While everyone took photos together and cocktails (mainly margaritas) were served in the El Cosmico field, the couple, along with Veysey’s uncle, provided a spectacular pre-dinner surprise: “We had the All American Cowgirl Chicks—an all-female equestrian act that combines galloping acrobatics, spark-throwing flags, and patriotic-themed riding sequences—provide entertainment before the meal.” She adds, “My Japanese relatives were chanting ‘USA’ by the end of the act, and the show finished with us—the bride and groom—on horseback, the Cowgirls presenting us with an American flag they had flown while riding in the Rose Bowl parade.”

After the show, the dinner outdoors featured Tex-Mex dishes like slow-roasted brisket and queso fresco catered by local Marfa eatery Food Shark. The flower arrangements were created by two of the couple’s close friends who own a floral boutique in Cleveland called Urban Orchid. “We had bought vases on our first road trip to Marfa, and Brandon and Jeff recruited a team of helpers to spray-paint these vases for each different event at the wedding in honor of that first excursion.” There were casual toasts followed by a dance party at the El Cosmico outdoor stage surrounded by wood-fired hot tubs under a very starry Texas sky.

Shioiri-Clark and Veysey’s whirlwind weekend culminated in a Sunday brunch at Hotel Paisano—“there were lots of hair of the dog and tons of breakfast burritos.” As for their honeymoon, they had to unsurprisingly take care of business first. “Instead of riding into the sunset for a relaxing honeymoon, we headed west in our car full of wedding gear for an entrepreneurial endeavor.” (The pair just launched their own canned wine label out of California called MANCAN). This month, they’ll finally take some time away as newlyweds when they head to Cuba for the holidays—capping a successful creation as a couple, and now as husband and wife.